"Don't be foolish!" Weinasi laughed weakly, reaching out to stroke Ailin's face.
"Sacrificing myself to save the entire Dark Extremity — what is there to hesitate about?"
Though her lips were pale and cracked from blood loss, the sacred radiance on her face made Ailin's heart ache.
"No! This is for me! You're doing this for me!"
Even if he advanced to second rank, he might not be a match for Lombarton, but with that strength, Ailin's chances of escaping alive on his own would be much greater.
Ailin wept, tears flowing uncontrollably.
Weinasi smiled, her tone surprisingly comforting: "This fateful destiny! We were meant to be enemies, yet we fell in love... with... each... other..."
Thud! Weinasi's hand slid down lifelessly.
Immediately after, a vast wave of spiritual power, carrying a warm and familiar presence, flooded into Ailin's sea of consciousness.
The Holy Light Candlelight surged into operation, and Ailin's aura skyrocketed, breaking through the bottleneck of second-rank Wizard in an instant.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Three components of the Fallen Longsword combined, radiating brilliant silver light. Within the glow, a slender Cross Sword slowly materialized, emanating a powerful fluctuation that had reached the level of high-rank Magical Items and even faintly touched upon the threshold of a Magical Artifact.
"Ahhhh!!!"
Ailin roared, raising the Fallen Longsword and transforming into a silver streak of light as he charged toward the center of the battlefield.
Wizards who stood in his path — whether from the Dark Extremity or the Dark Elves — were reduced to dust beneath the streak of light.
"What's happening?"
At the center of the battlefield, Lombarton watched the incoming streak of light and hardened his gaze. He stopped toying with Weilin and hurled a fireball straight at his head.
Whoosh!
The Fallen Longsword shot out a beam of light, precisely intercepting Lombarton's attack.
A vast and razor-sharp force surged forth like a tidal wave.
Though Lombarton could still forcibly kill Weilin, he would inevitably suffer severe injuries himself.
"Second rank?" Lombarton's eyes flickered. This level of power, combined with an offensive high-rank Magical Item, was enough to pose a serious threat to him.
And so Lombarton made his choice.
His body remained still, but his feet retreated rapidly, layer upon layer of grayish-green shields materializing before him.
"Kill!!!"
At the center of the silver streak was Ailin's faint silhouette. He thrust the great sword forward, wisps of pale silver spiritual power continuously reinforcing the Fallen Longsword, pushing its sharpness ever higher.
Pfft! Pfft!
The shields Lombarton had set up were torn apart like paper, and the sword tip even grazed his eye.
"You think you can kill me? With just this?!" Lombarton's face twisted in fury as a phantom spider emerged from his body, its massive mandibles opening wide to clamp down on the sword.
Crack!
A sharp burst of air erupted, and two figures were sent flying in opposite directions.
Lombarton touched his face — beneath his left eye, a line of blood trickled down.
On the other side, the sound of bones cracking came from Ailin's arm as he quickly retreated to Weilin's side.
"Are you... alright?!" Weilin had finally expelled all of Lombarton's corrosive Wizard energy from his body and risen to his feet.
Though he hadn't witnessed the scene, he could clearly tell something was very wrong with his friend's expression.
"Your reinforced armor is damaged! Take this!" Ailin glanced at Weilin, then handed him the Cross Sword. "It releases far more power in your hands than in mine!"
This was no time for talk. Weilin immediately took the Fallen Longsword, but the dead stillness in Ailin's eyes sent a chill through his heart.
"Again! Just like before! Why is it that every time I'm about to succeed, something always gets in the way?!"
On the other side, Lombarton watched this unfold, his face already dark with fury.
"But so what? One more second-rank Wizard changes nothing! Today, you all die here!"
Lombarton roared, and the phantom spider behind him suddenly made an unexpected move.
It opened its mandibles wide and sank its fangs deep into Lombarton's shoulder.
Thin red lines, visible to the naked eye, were drawn from Lombarton's body, while the phantom spider behind him grew increasingly red, gradually swelling in size.
Though Lombarton's body grew thinner and thinner, eventually reduced to nothing but skin and bones — a truly terrifying sight — the aura of energy radiating from him continued to rise, seemingly without limit.
"The Dark Elves' Life Sacrifice Ritual! We can't let him complete it, or he'll at least reach the peak of the second rank. The price afterward will be his life..."
Ailin's voice was hoarse, but he immediately transformed into a silver streak of light and charged forward.